Italy has had a significant impact on the horror movie genre with directors such as Lucio Fulci, Mario Bava and Dario Argento becoming cult figures in the horror world. The horror cinema of Italy tends to not concern itself too much with realism and aims for more of a cinematographic experience with beautiful sets and heavy usage of music to carry the experience along. While Italian horror spans a wide variety of horror scenarios, from Nazis to the supernatural, a substantial association with the giallo sub genre exists among horror fans.
Giallo is a dominant sub genre of Italian horror and, to audiences outside of Italy, the term has become synonymous with a very specific style of film. A psychological thriller, heavy on mystery, very violent and often containing scenes of excessive gruesome gore. As this sub genre has evolved it has had a heavy influence on English speaking horror most evidently the slasher film.
Italian horror movies are renowned for low production values, exaggerated acting and terrible English dubbing, and also brutality with an insensitivity towards controversial issues unlike their conscious hollywood counterparts. Defenseless women and cute children are often the victims of violent deaths and animals have been known to suffer for their art. They also tend to be extremely gory. The Fulci brand of zombie is usually much further ahead in decomposition than we are used to which embraces the excesses that Italian filmmakers are famed for; maggots, decay, buckets of blood and total annihilation of the innocent.
Horror film creators often addressed the subject of bullying well before it was trendy to pretend to care in order to market a product. This scenario was often saved for the slasher and as this sub-genre was booming in the eighties many directors saw this formula as a way to pay the bills. Even Lucio Fulci joined the band on their wagon in 1987 wit... Click to read more "Aenigma"
I'm never too sure about the giallo genre; if I was being cynical – which of course I'm not, ever – I might suggest that the whole thing was a massive ruse, brought about to link the leather glove-making/ladies negligee-making industry to the film industry at a time of economic instability. Or something. You could furthermore be forgiven, after ev... Click to read more "My Dear Killer"
From the outset it is apparent that Adam Chaplin is not going to be a run of the mill Italian independent horror movie. The blood flows in torrents within seconds of the film starting and doesn't really relent for the duration. The style seems very much influenced by the Japanese splatter genre of recent years, seemingly inspired by the works of Ma... Click to read more "Adam Chaplin"
Between directing Blue Erotic Climax and Porno Esotic Love, prolific filmmaker Joe D'Amato took a break from his sleazy pornographic exploits and directed his first non-erotic horror Anthropophagus. Also known as Grim Reaper, Man-Eater and The Beast among a multitude of other names (as is quite common for cheap Italian horror), Anthropophagus was d... Click to read more "Anthropophagus"
I have to say that about halfway through this film I was ready dismiss it as rather longwinded and aimless: not only does Night Train Murders (aka Don't Ride on Late Night Trains or L'ultimo treno della notte) manage to claw its way back, but I ended up being rather impressed by this low-key example of exploitation fare which plays its cards very c... Click to read more "Night Train Murders"
Dario Argento (born September 17, 1940) is an Italian movie producer, director and screenwriter famous (among other things) for his graphic horror movies and is considered a great influence on the horror and slasher movies that have followed his work.His distinct style of directing stands out due to his attention to the artistic factors in a movie,... Click to read more "Dario Argento: The Three Mothers"
